Generally, web pages are developed by employing HyperText Markup Language (HTML) code to specify how content is to be formatted and displayed by a web browser. In the past, web pages were only capable of containing “static” HTML codes, that is, content that is read directly from a file. A web server would then merely find the file corresponding to the web page's associated Uniform Resource Locator (URL) requested by the web browser, and return the contents of that file.
Eventually, the needs of the web demanded more dynamic content, which could not be generated with static HTML files. As such, the use of server-side programming evolved. With server-side programming, a web server could be adapted to respond to a request for a web page by running codes at the server in order to generate the HTML output that would be rendered to the web browser.
While server-side programming enabled the creation of dynamic web pages that were not previously available with static HTML programming, programmers also needed the ability to encapsulate the contents of a web page into more logical and reusable components. To help with this functionality, the concept of server-side web controls was introduced. Web controls are logical components that are hierarchically arranged on the web page. Each control has the responsibility of rendering specific HTML content. While web controls exist for creating many elements, such as, for example, labels, text boxes, and buttons, no web controls exist for creating modal dialog boxes at the server.
Modal dialog boxes are a common tool for building applications. Modal dialog boxes are generally presented as popup windows having informational inquiries that force a user to respond before allowing the user to interact with other controls in the application. Furthermore, modal dialog boxes allow applications to present a new user interface without taking away the user interface that is currently viewable. Modal dialog boxes are generally configured to remain on top of other windows within the application, until they are dismissed by performing the required action.
Attempts have been made to use modal dialog boxes for web-based applications. One such attempt uses a Javascript library running on a client device. HTML programming is used to generate a webpage and to call scripts from the library to generate a popup dialog. However, this method does not incorporate the use of web controls, as is commonly used in modern web application design. Furthermore, separate requests must be sent back to the server for the dialog and for the controls displayed on the main page. These and other drawbacks currently exist regarding the creation and display of modal dialog boxes for web-based application.